Pacific Insider
There's no time like 'island time'…

On July 1, the Radisson Resort became the Radisson Blu Resort Fiji (Denarau, 20 mins from Nadi).  The Radisson Blu is an award-winning brand in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with over 200 hotels in the portfolio.  The Radisson has positioned itself well among the competition on Denarau Island (Hilton, Sofitel, Sheraton, Westin) and [...]

Airlines often get more brickbats than bouquets, but Virgin Australia did a terrific thing this morning.  A honeymoon couple from Adelaide couldn’t get to Port Vila last Wednesday because of the ash cloud.  Virgin changed their flight to today, but the couple had an alarm clock mishap and they missed the plane.  Because it is [...]

Royale Takitumu Villas on Titikaveka Beach in the Cook Islands can be a little difficult to find as there is no road signage.  The owners made this decision to stop any rubber-neckers driving in and wandering around the property and disturbing the guests’ privacy (guests arrive by private car or coach and once there, they [...]

Lovely local wedding at Sunset Bungalows in Port Vila last Saturday – the ceremony and reception for 160 were both at the resort and one of the guests was Sato Kilman, who said that he loved the wedding so much that he would send his daughters to Sunset to be married.  It was a good [...]

August 16 to 21 will see this year’s Tusker Vanuatu Golf Open with professionals and amateurs arriving from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands.  There’s prize money of $50,000 up for grabs.  Apart from the golf, the social interaction off the course has become legendary.  Golfers will deny this, of course, [...]

Planning to get married or honeymoon in the tropics?  You can have your own free mini-website courtesy of South Pacific Weddings.  In the lead up to the wedding it can have all the info on how you met, the proposal, the engagement and plans for the Big Day – and then, after the wedding, change [...]

The Anchor Inn is one of the places the locals like to hang out – and why not, cold beer, good food and a harbour view – but it can also be a great place for tourists to drop in, enjoy a sunset and see how the expats unwind.  There can be live music, footy [...]

It’s not that long ago that kindling was used to start a fire and was a noun, not a verb.  Now electronic books come in a Kindle version and, for mine, there’s no better application than for travel guides.  They can travel with you electronically, can be downloaded anywhere in the world in seconds, there [...]

The Tiger IV launch to the Mamanuca islands in Fiji has been around for yonks, providing friendly and efficient transfers to island resorts, but ferry schedules sometimes don’t tie in with international flight arrivals and departures, meaning some visitors have to spend a night in Nadi (not that there’s anything wrong with that!).  For those [...]

Had an email yesterday asking about honeymoon bonuses in Vanuatu.  Most resorts offer honeymooners a bonus, like a bottle of bubbly and flowers in room on arrival or massages and a room upgrade.  Sunset Bungalows, for example, has a Stay 7 nights Pay 5 nights special including cooked breakfast daily and honeymooners also get a [...]